Tag: teenage

I was going to post a green smoothie recipe then it turned out to be bitter and the colour ended up brown, not what you want in a smoothie at all. So now it is easy smoothie prep!

Fresh Fruit

The best thing for this is to get lots of discounted fruit that is very ripe and freeze it for future smoothies. Strawberries can be sliced and put on a cookie sheet to freeze, same with peaches or other soft fruit. Berries can be just laid out on a tray or pre-blended. Put the berries of choice in a blender with a splash of water ( or even juice, milk, or milk alternative ) and blend until smooth, freeze in an icecube tray for easy cubes of fruit. I talk about freezing bananas in this post! Cubes and frozen fruit can be mixed and matched for different smoothie flavours.

Greens + avocado

I have recently discovered you can freeze avocado and it taste and look, perfectly fine! It saves a lot of avocados since I was throwing out overly ripe ones but now they can be frozen at prime time before they go bad. Throw a few ( I find 3 whole avocados fill 12 ice cubes ) avocados in a blender, again with a splash of water, and blend until smooth then put into trays. Another option is blending some leafy greens ( like spinach ) until it looks pretty smooth, then adding in the avocado, for quick and easy green smoothies!

The green smoothie cubes. Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day?

Do you make smoothies from fresh or frozen fruit?

P.S. It’s Peri

Today’s Seeking Style is how I organize to best fit my life and keep my clothing streamlined. I think organizing your things is very important because it can save you time in the long run and you don’t need to think too much about things if they’re nicely organized and easy to find.

How I organize my clothing

T-shirts from darkest to lightest.

Tops and dresses hang up. Bottoms are all in drawers and everything else is in baskets in the closet.

By season. Usually, I won’t be wearing dresses in the winter so I separate everything that is hanging by season. Half for warm weather, half for cold weather.

By colour. Everything is hung by darkest to lightest. It seems extra picky but I like it so if it’s a dark day, I may want to wear something brighter and happier to counteract.

Every piece has a home. This one I think is the most important. You know where each piece goes and where it is when you need it. It’s always in the same spot in your closet or dresser. It also makes everything much faster to put away.

Main points to keep in mind while organizing clothing

Make things accessible and easy to see. I find I forget I own things often so it’s good to have everything where you can see it.

Clothes that you don’t wear that often don’t need to be front and centre, not everyday things can be more away.

Separating by seasons help to narrow things down by what the weather is like.

The initial time commitment to organizing pays off in having everything easy to see.

You can maximize the clothes you own by rotating through all of the outfit possibilities.

P.S. It’s Peri

A few weeks ago I started to include meditation with my workout routine to help mental health along with physical.

How to get started

Step 1 – find an app or videos

I tried several apps at the same time ( got to check out all the options ) to try to find one that I liked the best. It’s good to have one that has topics that are applicable to you and if they’re guided meditations, with someone who has a voice that you can listen to for a bit. My favourite apps were Simple Habit Meditation – it costs money to subscribe but my friend gave me a free trial – and HeadSpace. HeadSpace is a good starting off point to learn the basics. After using the apps for a bit and once I felt like I knew what I was doing I went to YouTube videos for more options. My favourite has been Boho Beautiful ( it sounds cheesy but she has a very calming voice ), there is a daily meditation playlist which focuses on self-acceptance and love.

Step 2 – fit it into your daily routine

At first, I tried to work meditation in 3 places in my routine, to see if I could do it that often and to find when worked best. First thing in the morning, while stretching post-workout and right before bed. In the morning it’s a good way to start the day being calm and having a clear mind. I find it allows me to stretch better because of being relaxed and focused in the moment. Right before bed is a great way to sleep better and calm yourself down.

Step 3 – be consistent!

Best way to form a habit is to stick with it until it becomes part of your day. This can be hard on days when your mind is racing and it feels difficult to calm it, but that’s when you need it most.

Some benefits I’ve found

My mind feels calmer. The main reason to start meditation. It really helps with anxiety and sleep.

Less negative thoughts, more appreciative, more positive. I’ve been trying to consciously work on this, too, so the meditation didn’t magically solve this, but it has helped. Especially with being present and trying not to worry.

More focus, which also helps during workouts. If you try to incorporate meditation into something you need a lot of focus for or during your workouts it can improve your performance because you’re living in the moment and your mind is either clear on thinking about whatever it is you need focus for.

Feels like you have more control over your mind. If you start thinking negatively you can use meditation as a tool to stop it or at least redirect.

It seems so simple yet it feels like it’s made a substantial difference in how I think and I would highly recommend learning how to meditate. Have you tried meditation?

P.S. It’s Peri

Hygge has been everywhere lately and I’m all for this trend! Wikipedia defines it as ” the Danish word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment. Hygge refers to “a form of everyday togetherness”, “a pleasant and highly valued everyday experience of safety, equality, personal wholeness and a spontaneous social flow”” I think of it as the feeling of walking into your cozy home after being out in the dark and cold winter. Pretty much like a nice warm hug but all the time.

Why hygge?

Denmark is often named one of the happiest places on Earth and this definitely helps them get that title. I saw a TED talks ( this one! ) a little while ago about how humans need traditions to feel less alone and just to improve the overall quality of life. Since then I’ve been a little fascinated with the small everyday traditions and how they help make good days. Between hygge emphasizing everyday transitions and the overall beauty and coziness of hygge, it’s an awesome idea to embrace. It creates a more calm and welcoming living space and lifestyle which helps with anxiety and making your home ( or room! ) a calming sanctuary.

Some ways to incorporate hygge into life

Cold weather

Warm drinks. I especially like spiced teas such as chai, apple cinnamon, ginger and liquorice, etc.

Fairy lights and candles! Having a bright home keeps away winter blues. Also, keeping curtains and blinds open to let in the sunshine.

Fire in fireplace or pit outside. Bonus points if you roast marshmallows!

Fluffy socks, cozy blankets, fluffy pillows, rugs to add more warmth.

Soups, stews or any warm comfort food.

Take a little tea or coffee break during the day and really savour it.

Warm weather

Freeze fruit into ice cubes to add flavour to your water.

Iced tea and coffee.

Walks in nature and taking everything in.

Bright and cool living spaces.

Having windows open to get lots of fresh air.

Eating outside.

How I’ve been trying to embrace hygge

Fairy lights

Fairy lights, lots of cozy blankets and pillows, coordinating happy cat. A cat is not required, he is just a model and loves the camera.

My favourite part has been adding fairy lights everywhere I can. Luckily, we had a large collection of lights from past Christmases, I would try to get them right after Christmas because that’s when they are cheapest and easiest to find.

Fairy lights outside. In the summer, having a fire is a good way to get outside and enjoy the warmth.

Tea time

Every day around 2:30-3:00pm my family tries to have a cup of tea together. It’s a nice way to have a break and a good time to have cookies!

Weekend playlist

Playing weekend music differentiates the days. Usually, I play old music or jazz to give a coffee shop feel.

Being grateful

I think being grateful and appreciating the coziness in things is a huge part of hygge and adds to the feeling of comfort. I make lists of all the little things I’m thankful for and try to appreciate things in the moment.

Start the Newsletter back up. It is a work in progress but the sign-up page is back. Sign up for future newsletters here!

School

Get everything caught up. Somehow I was a term behind in math and several ahead in my other courses?? A side effect of being homeschooled. I finished my last math courses, started the new one and have caught up there. I’m also almost done half of my courses for this year.

It’s not really school related but I finished reading Tom Sawyer which I was reading digitally and kept forgetting about.

Come up with some backup plans in case I do not get into university. I talk about the process here.

P.S. It’s Peri

This instalment of the Seeking Style Series will be on how to streamline your outfit choices and make sure you’re using all of the clothes you own.

Get everything out and ready

The first thing I do is take all of the clothes out where I can see them so I know what I’m working with. It’s pretty messy and could probably be done in a neater way, but this is what I do. I find that I often forget things that I have or there’ll be a shirt that I don’t enjoy wearing, but once it’s put together with something else I might like it a lot more and start wearing it often. The main point is to get the most out of what you own.

Putting things together

Once everything is out, it’s time to start putting outfits together and taking pictures. I start with outfits I usually wear and from there switch a piece out and see how it looks, sometimes trying on the new combos to see how it feels and if I like it. This way you can get more outfit options out of what you have. I will also look up things like “how to style utility jacket” to get more inspiration and ideas for things to go together that I would have never thought of.

My phone’s camera roll after putting outfits together

Using Pinterest

Once there are some outfit combinations, I lay everything out and take pictures of them. Then I create a secret Pinterest board where I pin all of the photos I’ve taken of my outfits. The board can be sorted by season or weather to make finding outfits even easier. With a bit of initial time commitment, you can have quick and easy outfits and not have to think about them!

P.S. It’s Peri

For most of my teenage years, I’ve found it hard to find clothing that I liked. They were either not in my style ( I didn’t really know what style I liked until recently ), they were poor quality or too expensive, so I ended up leaving stores empty-handed or returning purchases shortly thereafter. I came up with a plan ( Seeking Style! ) for myself to find clothes that were 1) reasonably priced, 2) fit in my style and I would actually wear, 3) looked good and were not terrible quality. This has been the most successful shop in awhile and I’m very happy with what I bought!

T-shirts for summer when it’s hot and I mostly wear sweaters so I needed something a bit cooler for the warmer months. I tried to get more classic patterns ( can never have too many stripes! ) to go with my style and give a bit of a vintage feel. Floral is everywhere right now and I’m so happy about it. Lemons because why not?! ( also like Lemonade ) And stripes because you can never go wrong with stripes.

There is nothing better than an oversized, warm and cozy sweatshirt. It’s like a constant hug. The red one is for everyday wear and says “true happiness” along the back, which I think is letting you know that it would bring happiness. The black one is not as heavy so I got it for wearing post-workout over my workout tanks.

The light jeans are to embrace my inner hipster, sort of like the mom jean trend but I got them in skinny jeans because I like those more and high waisted which makes them more flattering and I think more comfortable. Black leggings with some detail so they don’t look too plain. The fabric is thicker so they don’t end up being see-through or anything and there are zippers on the ankles to make them less plain. Black leggings are a must have since they are super comfortable and can be worn with anything. Denim shorts are the warm weather alternative to the jeans because they’re basically the exact same thing but shorter. These were one of the few pairs that I could find that wasn’t incredibly short or somehow “distressed”. The black shorts I got so my purchase from Ardenes would get to the free shipping minimum, to be honest, but they are actually pretty comfortable and I will always wear new workout clothing!

This is my favourite part of this haul, DRESSES! Summer and warm weather is the best because of summer dresses being so pretty and comfortable. I could not get the maxi dress to unwrinkle so please excuse that, it’s not that wrinkly when it’s not laying down. The maxi dress is my favourite thing that I bought, it’s made from t-shirt material ( super soft and comfy ) with a halter neck and feels like something a Greek goddess would wear. Forever 21 is almost constantly out of stock of these but once you see them I would buy it immediately since their stock goes fast! The red and the blue dress are both made of similar material and both have slightly flowy skirts. They’re very comfortable and cute, I feel like I will only wear these all summer. The T-shirt was soooo soft and easy since you just slide it on and it’s a full outfit. This is the first time I’ve had a romper, I felt like a doll with the puff around the neckline, but it’s great! I have a very long torso, though, so if I were to get other rompers they would probably also have to be off the shoulder in order for them to be comfortable.

I had been wanting a vintage style bathing suit for awhile and had been keeping an eye out for places selling ones that weren’t so vintage that they looked like a costume, but still had the classic feel to them. I noticed aerie had them last year but didn’t get any because I haven’t gone swimming or anything in a while. This year I decided to just get it because it’s not very often that they’re in style and I knew I would get my money’s worth of enjoyment out of it. Also at aerie, I got a bralette which I had heard was really great and now I fully agree, it’s much prettier in person, super comfortable and looks nice enough that it can be worn under things and it’s not a huge deal if you can see straps or anything. I would get about 100 more. Aerie has lots of sales and things are pretty reasonably priced when they’re on sale, I also like their body positive campaign #aerieREAL, it’s also helpful to see how things would look on you because there are so many other people with different body types. The sports bra was on clearance at Forever 21 and I can also never have enough of those for working out.

P.S It’s Peri

Welcome to the new and improved P.S. It’s Peri! The blog has moved to psitsperi.com where I’ll be able to grow it more than before.

What’s new and what is the same?

Subscriptions are the same, all of the previous posts are the same, tags and comments are all the exact same as before. There is a bit of a new colour pallet, a new look for the blog! It will no longer be able to be reached at psitsperi.wordpress.com and only at psitsperi.com. And that’s it for the changes! Bear with me as I figure this out, but everything should run smoothly.

Thank you, everyone, for following along on my blog journey and helping it grow to new heights! And if you find anything that isn’t working right, please let me know in the comments or by contacting me and I will do my best to fix it.

More getting things done! Somehow a lot of getting things done has involved home repair and decorating, but it’s become a bit of a hobby for me and it’s so satisfying to see the transformation! Painting is also kind of fun and a good opportunity to turn it into a dance party.

Old colour

The old dining area colour was a brownish green that wasn’t the happiest or cleanest colour so it was time to update it.

New colour

New Alabaster White featuring the dog looking out the window.

After some Pinterest research on what the best shade of white ( one would think there isn’t a lot of shades of white but there is ) would be, we decided on Alabaster White from Sherwin Williams and luckily they were having a sale so it was perfect timing to buy paint! The new white makes the ceilings seem higher and the whole room bigger overall, plus it really brightens the whole place up. Now it’ll be onto more decorating!